Are Rampaging Elephants a Problem in Your Kitchen?

A well-stocked pantry is important to any cook. Besides the staples, it's always nice to have a few luxury items, like quality cocoa powder for rich desserts, or exotic chilies, in case you need to spice up a dish, break up rioting crowds, or stop marauding elephants in their tracks.

Yes, just such a chili exists and the Indian military is putting it into use for just those purposes this year.

Classified as the world's hottest chili pepper by Guinness World Records, India's bhut jolokia – or ghost chili – measures in at a tongue-sizzling 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) in tests conducted at New Mexico State University at Las Cruces last year. What does that mean? The familiar and reliable jalapeño only measures about 3,000 to 8,000 SHUs and the former record holder – the Red Savina habanero – topped out at less than 600,000 SHUs. In other words, this is one helluva chili pepper.

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Researchers at the Defense Research and Development Organization, the R&D agency of India's military, began researching possible uses for the edible firebomb last year and announced earlier this spring they were, indeed, putting the chili to use in the nation's defense. Its various duties include being used in non-lethal grenades to disperse rioters and immobilize terrorists and insurgents, and – less dramatically – as a way to help warm soldiers stationed at India's Himalayan outposts.

"Its pungent smell will force the target victim to throw up and the eyes will burn like hell, but all without any long-term damage," a spokesman for the DRDO told the BBC earlier this year.

Oh, and those marauding elephants? Indians have struggled for years to find ways to prevent wild elephants from breaking into farm fields and other areas where they're not wanted, including the country's military installations. Numerous methods, including electric fences, have failed miserably but it turns out the pachyderms shy away from the odor of the ghost chilies. Researchers have suggested applying a layer of the piquant pepper to fences surrounding sensitive areas.